The Scariest Halloween Ever
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: What if everything had been a little different on this Halloween day when Harry was one year old? Completely AU, sick!Harry/Neville, rating because of character!death  Voldemort


**The Scariest Halloween Ever**  
**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

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Lily sighed as she abandoned her warm bed in order to turn to a wailing, hungry one-year-old. It was Halloween morning, and somehow, Lily had a bad feeling at the thought of that specific day, although she did not know exactly why. '_It's just as if I had dreamed something, but I can't recall it_,' she mused as she approached Harry's crib, where her son was standing, holding on to the rails, his face red from crying. '_That's strange_,' Lily thought. '_Normally, he does not make such a ruckus. It's not as if I had told him that Alice and Neville are going to visit the zoo together with us today. I'm glad that Harry and Neville get along so well_.' She carefully lifted Harry into her arms.

"Good morning, sweetie. Did you have a nice, long sleep?" she cooed and laid her son on the changing table, wondering why he was so exceptionally whiny that morning. She quickly changed the child, putting his favourite dark green jump suit with the golden Snitch that moved around randomly on him, and placed him down onto the floor. "Come on Harry, let's go and look what we can have for breakfast, hmm?" she asked, smiling at the little tyke.

However, Harry looked crossly as he stretched both arms into the air and demanded, "Up."

Sighing in exasperation, Lily carried the child downstairs and had just placed him into his child seat at the dining table, when the fireplace flared and her best friend's face appeared in the flames.

"Lily, I think Neville is sick," Alice told her, sounding very worried. "Can you come and check on him?"

"Of course. I'll just give Harry his breakfast," Lily said, thinking, '_That's exactly what I needed now with Harry being so cranky this morning_.' She made Harry eat a buttered toast along with a small cup of warm chocolate, before she cradled him close and stepped into the fireplace to visit her friend. Since she had finished her Healing course at St. Mungo's the previous year, all of her friends used to call her when their children were sick, so this was nothing unusual. She lightly hugged Alice, before she instructed Harry to stay with his godmother for a moment, ignoring his uttered displeasure. Leaving Harry in the hall with Alice, she strode into Neville's room to check on her own godchild.

"Good morning Neville," Lily said kindly, giving the baby a sharp look.

The boy, who normally used to greet her with a happy smile, remained unresponsive, merely staring into space from glassy eyes. With growing concern, Lily waved her Healer's wand at the boy, who was like a twin to Harry. Every other day, Lily and Alice made their sons, who were exactly the same age, only separated by a few hours, spend some quality time together. Lily reached for the small parchment, which emerged from the tip of her wand, her smile turning into a frown. '_Oh no, the Squid's spam_,' she thought, terrified. '_That might be the reason why Harry is so cranky this morning. Considering how contagious the Squid's spam is, he probably caught the same, although it hasn't broken out yet_.'

The Squid's spam was a magical children's disease, which was fortunately very rare, however, at the same time extremely dangerous, especially as it made children more easily use accidental magic, which could dangerously aggravate their condition. When children were suffering from the Squid's spam, small bubbles continuously emerged from their mouths as soon as they opened them, which happened often, since the illness made it necessary to breathe through their mouths. However, if they became excited or even upset, the bubbles became bigger and – in extreme cases – dangerous for the patient or for other people nearby.

Lily let out a long sigh and picked up Neville, who immediately snuggled into her robes, letting out a miserable moan. "Everything will be all right, sweetie," she cooed. "I'm going to take you and your mummy home with me, and then I'll give you a potion, which will make you feel all better," she promised, gently caressing the baby's light hair. She explained the matter to Alice, who agreed to accompany Lily home, knowing that it would be better for Neville to have Lily look after him.

Back in Godric's Hollow, Lily quickly conjured a second crib in the nursery and placed Neville into the crib and quickly checked on Harry, noticing that the Squid's spam was just at its beginning. '_Just what I needed right now. As if my bad feeling wasn't enough_,' Lily thought in exasperation as she headed downstairs to the fireplace. She quickly called her husband and instructed him to bring Alice's husband Frank with him when he returned from the Ministry. '_At least it's convenient that they're colleagues and entertain themselves without our company later on_,' she mused as she stepped into the fireplace and travelled to St. Mungo's in order to buy the potions for the babies. Normally, she would have either brewed the potions by herself or asked her other best friend, Severus, to brew them for her; however, knowing that Neville was already feeling quite miserable, she wanted to get hold of the medicine as quickly as possible. Twenty minutes later, she was back home and spelled the lime green liquid straight into the babies' systems, sighing in relief when Harry and Neville both visibly calmed down and drifted off to sleep immediately.

ハロウィーン

The afternoon passed anything else than pleasantly. Although both babies slept a lot due to the illness and the potions, they woke up every now and then, feeling too uncomfortable to even smile at the bubbles that came out of their mouths. '_Normally, Harry would find it very funny_,' Lily thought, feeling very sorry for her son. By the early evening, the potions finally kicked in, and the two boys began to obviously feel better.

"Nene bubby," Harry chuckled as he saw the bubbles coming out of Neville's mouth, before he quietened, staring at the bubbles in front of his own face in shock.

"Dada," Neville replied, smiling back at his friend.

Lily and Alice exchanged a relieved look. '_Thank Merlin they're getting better_,' Lily mused. '_Still I have a bad feeling. I don't know why. I just hope James and Frank will come back soon_.' Their husbands had decided to make use of the fact that their wives were together and were attending a Halloween party at the Ministry, where they were working as Aurors together. '_Wow, they're back early_,' she thought as she heard the entrance door being slammed open. However, an instant later, she frowned, waiting for James' shouted "Lils-Harry" in vain. Instead, she heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. '_That's not James and Frank_,' she realised, terrified. '_My foreboding was correct_.' "Alice, take the children and hide somewhere," she hissed at her friend as she stepped towards the door.

However, it was too late. A man clothed in black robes was standing in the doorframe. "Step aside! I only want your son," the figure hissed.

'_Voldemort_,' Lily understood immediately, staring into the evil wizard's red eyes. The worst that could happen was just taking place. "No, please take me and leave the children in peace," she pleaded.

"Step aside," Voldemort demanded, pointing his wand at the young witch.

Lily barely heard him cast the spell, before she saw a red light travel in her direction. '_This is the end_,' she thought, knowing that she was going to die. '_I love you Harry_.'

However, an instant later, she was still conscious. The red light had stopped on its way and was surrounded by bubbles. She stared at the scene in disbelief, when more and more bubbles appeared in a fast movement, forcing the red light back to its origin. Just when her eyes travelled farther to meet the evil wizard, the interrupted and backfired spell hit him square into the chest, causing him to collapse on the floor.

Lily was just about to hurry to her son's side, when she heard a voice calling from downstairs. "James," she shouted back, gratefully uttering a "Thank you", when Alice pressed Harry into her arms.

"Nene an I bubby mummy fee?" Harry queried excitedly, causing Lily to smile.

"Yes Harry, I saw the bubbles you and Neville made. You did that very well, sweetie," Lily replied, cuddling the baby close, just when a black clothed figure bustled into the room.

It was Severus Snape, who stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing Voldemort's body on the floor of the Potters' nursery. "Lily, are you all right?" he asked in a soft, baritone voice. "I am sorry that I'm too late. I came to warn you, but..." He trailed off and leaned over the unmoving figure, before he pulled his left sleeve upwards, staring at the fading mark in disbelief. "He is dead," he whispered, sounding uncharacteristically amazed.

"Thank Merlin," Lily said, sighing, and told Severus what had happened, before she realised, "The children killed someone."

"Lily, Harry and Neville saved your life," Alice threw in.

"Exactly," Severus agreed firmly. "He was an evil wizard, who killed many people. Well, I'll leave now. You better call your husbands and make them take him away and officially declare his death. I am sure that your children will become heroes for what they did tonight. They deserve the Order of Merlin first class."

Ten minutes later, the two Aurors rushed into the room and, after confirming that their wives and children were all right, took one dead evil wizard with them.

'_That was the scariest Halloween ever_,' Lily mused as she laid Harry back into his crib, glad that the huge amount of magic the two babies had cast earlier had not aggravated their condition. "Good night, sweetie," she whispered to her son, "I love you very much."

**The End**

_Sorry for the delay - the annoyances of RL kept me from posting this on time for Halloween..._


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